Despite a clear understanding of the benefits and drivers from the end-user community, companies have not mobilized many applications - and a large percentage are delaying full deployment of enterprise apps on mobile devices due to concerns around cost, complexity and security.

A Vanson Bourne survey showed that there is compelling end-user demand for sensitive corporate data and apps to be available on mobile devices; 87 percent of CIOs said their employees want more access to enterprise data and applications on their mobile devices.

It also provided evidence that enterprises recognize the efficiency gains that mobile can deliver; CIOs expect there would be a 36 percent increase in productivity across the business if key enterprise applications were mobilized.

On average, companies had more than 400 custom and packaged applications within their organization. Some progress is being made to make these available on mobile devices: 71 percent of companies have taken steps to develop applications for mobile use, with a further 20 percent planning to develop applications for mobile use in the near future.

Today, only a small proportion (22 percent) of enterprise applications can actually be accessed from mobile devices despite the fact that 86 percent of companies have developed standard web applications, and over half (53 percent) of enterprise applications are now browser-based, meaning there is an opportunity to mobilize relatively easily and cost-effectively.

Matt Bancroft, COO for Mobile Helix, comments, “Users expect critical data and applications to be available on any device and in any context, both in mobile and fixed environments, in the way that is most familiar and convenient to them. CIOs understand the obvious benefits of empowering employees and making them more productive, yet only a small proportion of enterprise apps and critical data are currently mobilized. Why aren’t more enterprise apps available on any device? We all want apps and data to be available to employees when they need them using the tools that are available at that time. Companies need to bridge app silos in the enterprise and ensure applications work in both fixed and mobile to deliver a seamless converged 'app' experience.”

The survey found that there are a range of factors impeding the deployment and adoption of enterprise applications on mobile devices, most commonly:

The survey found that the vast majority of CIOs (81 percent) believe that the cost of developing or re-engineering enterprise applications for use on mobile devices is currently too high because of the highly fragmented and complex nature of the mobile market.

When looking at native apps development specifically, only a third of respondents (32 percent) felt they had the necessary skills to develop native apps. Almost half (47 percent) of companies that had developed a native app said they would have reservations about doing so again due to the time, cost and complexity involved.

“The current approach to mobility is limiting the market – enterprises are now looking for solutions which will allow them to develop and deliver apps to their employees simply and cost effectively,” Bancroft continues. “Companies already have the infrastructure and skills to mobilize, deliver and support enterprise applications in a cost-effective way, while still ensuring enterprise-grade security. Every device platform on the market today has a high performance, HTLM5-compliant engine. By taking this HTML5 browser-based approach, corporate IT can build a unified applications platform that extends across devices of all shapes and sizes, without compromise in functionality, performance, or security.”

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